5 dramas still playing out 5 years after San Onofre shutdown

Five years ago this week, the San Onofre nuclear plant closed amid billowing steam and leaking radiation.

A $680 million steam generator replacement that was supposed to add 40 years of life to the aging plant instead brought its premature demise. Now the twin reactors on the north San Diego County coast generate drama and political intrigue instead of electricity to serve millions of Southern Californians.

The failures that led to the premature closing of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station prompted a swarm of investigations, lawsuits and legislation that continues to unfold from here to Sacramento. Much of the scrutiny has centered on the relationship between majority owner Southern California Edison in Rosemead and state regulators at the California Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco.

Undisclosed backchannel dealings, including a rendezvous at a luxury hotel in Poland, resulted in a $16.7 million fine against Edison and undermined confidence in a $4.7 billion deal dividing up the costs of the premature shutdown. They also resulted in calls for reform at the CPUC.